West Virginia groups urge passage of new federal relief package
WV Metro News
“Despite these challenges, Congress has failed to pass any meaningful COVID relief for families and communities since March, and most of the programs that were passed have since expired with the crisis no less challenging.” The letter came from groups like The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, the National Association of Social Workers West Virginia, American Friends Service Committee West Virginia, West Virginia Citizen Action Group, the West Virginia Education Association, American Federation of Teachers West Virginia and others.

National Association of Social Workers says funding issues leading to delay in licensing
KBTX
The National Association of Social Workers Texas is seeing a link between a lack of funding and COVID-19 impacting licensing for social workers. Will Francis, Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers Texas, says this issue with funding and employment was happening before the coronavirus pandemic. “We were already in a major backlog, so we already saw some delays. We were actually moving towards getting better, but then COVID-19 came. That put that at a stop. It decreased their ability to work over time. Some of them didn’t have laptops and that sort of made us take a step back,” said Francis.

Karen Carnabucci is a member:
Celebrating recovery in the time of COVID
Lancaster Online
Karen Carnabucci, a licensed clinical social worker and alterative therapist, agrees that during this time of enforced isolation, uncertainty and collective trauma caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that people in recovery may be struggling. “When we feel threatened or scared we risk going to very old and not-so-healthy behaviors,” Carnabucci says. “I think that we have to be alert to what is healthy and what is self-destructive — and certainly that could be using substances, reusing substances, even though somebody has been in recovery for a while.”

What types of interventions promote women’s entrepreneurship?
Brookings Institute
While COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we all live and work, the pandemic has not affected all equally. It has brought to light existing disparities in both our health and economic systems. Women and people of color are more likely to be essential workers—with a higher share of employment in health care, social work, and grocery—putting them at greater risk of exposure.

Victor Armstrong is a member:
Stress from coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on people’s mental health
News & Observer
More than 6.6 million Americans, about 2% of the population, have tested positive for coronavirus, and more than 195,000 have died of COVID-19. But the mental health effects of the pandemic and the economic fallout touch a far larger number of people…. “The behavioral health challenges brought on by this pandemic are great,” Victor Armstrong, director of the Division of Mental Health, said during a press conference. “As a state, we must be prepared to address the long-lasting stressors presented by this pandemic.”

Sonyia Richardson is a member:
CLT Forward: Another Level Counseling & Consultation
Charlotte Business Journal
Prior to starting Another Level Counseling and Consultation, Sonyia Richardson directed the university counseling center at a historically Black university. She enjoyed working with individuals of color and helping them with the mental health challenges they faced while in higher education. But the job offered little in the way of flexibility for her young children or in growth potential. In 2007, Richardson started Another Level Counseling in Charlotte’s University City. The practice provides counseling services to individuals, families and couples.

[Video] Social workers speak out against Buffalo mayor’s plan to pair them with police officers
MyTwinTiers.com
Social workers in Buffalo are speaking out against the mayor’s plan to pair them with police officers. They rallied Thursday night in front of Buffalo City Hall. The social workers say the city’s plan to have social workers respond to mental health calls with police puts them in an unfair position. “This proposed plan is putting social workers in the position of having to simultaneously calm and attend to people experiencing mental health concerns, while also having to de-escalate the police,” one of the speakers said. “That is way too much pressure to put one person who is already taxed.”

Sheilah Gauch is a member:
‘He woke up an altogether different child’: Marshfield family speaks on living with PANDAS/PANS
Wicked Local Marshfield
PANDAS, Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections, and PANS, Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, occur when misdirected immune responses cause inflammation on a child’s brain. This inflammation causes the child to experience severe symptoms ranging from obsessive compulsive disorder, tics and anxiety to personality changes, sensory issues and restrictive eating…. Sheilah Gauch has an extensive professional background in mental health; a licensed independent clinical social worker with a master’s in social work from Boston College, she’s worked in the field for over 20 years and is currently the principal of a therapeutic day school in Newton.